[amland01]

We are just beginning the process and are trying to decide on a country. We are interested in a timely (who isn't?) process, and are interested in adopting an infant. We have it narrowed down to Kazakhstan and Georgia, and I was wondering if any one had any advice or information that may assist in our decision. Thanks!

Hi -

I don't have advice for you, as we are in the same situation. We are looking for 2 infants from Georgia or Kazakhstan.

We recently discovered that infants are also available from Romania, so I'm starting to look into this.

Here's what I've found so far. Costs are higher for Georgia, but you can get a younger child. The youngest that one agency placed was 9 weeks. Right now, the agencies I've talked to are saying that the wait is longer than it used to be because the program has quickly gotten popular. Kaz has very good institutional care, but children must remain on the country's national database for 5 mos before becoming available. So if all goes well (which no one can guarantee), the youngest child you would have would be 6 mos.

Romania has similarities with Kaz -- youngest child could be 4 mos at referral. but most children are in foster care. Also, the country was "on hold" for some time but it is expected that adoptions will continue.

Please share any info you discover as you make your decision.

Also, did you file the BCIS form? I'm hearing pros and cons about filing it before you know the agency and country.

Terry

[pjlanghals]

Hi!

My husband and I live in NW Ohio and we have 5 children, 3 of whom were adopted from Kazakhstan using Building Blocks Adoption Service from Medina, OH (www.bbas.org) . We adopted Tayte (9m) and Karenna (23m) in Jan 2001. Their adoptions took 7 m from start to finish. Then we were returned to adopt Garrett (33m) in Dec 2001. His adoption took only 5 m to complete because we already had INS approval from the first time. All three of our adopted children were from baby house #1 in Almaty. Our children are very happy and healthy!

We were very happy with BBAS and highly recommend them! They were very helpful and answered all our questions as quickly as possible. We had a wonderful experience! They kept in touch with us often and were always ready to answer our questions. Our paperwork went very smoothly! I found Denise & Wendy to be very personable. I felt very comfortable talking with them and never felt "alone" in during the process.

We liked the caretakers and the baby house. It was an old building, but very clean. There are generally 2 caretakers per age group with approx 12 children in each group. The kids are on a strict schedule. In many ways it reminded me of a day care. The children were given lessons in music, speech, academics, etc.

We were enjoyed our time in Almaty. Almaty is the largest city in Kaz and has all the amenities of a city. Our interpreter took us to the orphanage everyday to visit the children, then we went to lunch. Afterwards, she took us shopping or sightseeing. We learned about the culture and history of Kaz in that way. We stayed in an apartment supplied by our agency. It was pretty nice and very safe. We have a driver and interpreter available to us 24 hrs per day if needed. We honestly didn't have to worry about a thing. All our paperwork was in order and we didn't have any delays.

Please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have about Kazakhstan.

Best wishes to you,
Pat Langhals

[lucyjoy]

"Romania has similarities with Kaz -- youngest child could be 4 mos at referral. but most children are in foster care. Also, the country was "on hold" for some time but it is expected that adoptions will continue"

I thought most Romanian children were placed in orphanages at very early ages and had to be "abandoned" for a year before they could be considered for adoption outside the country. Is it different in diefferent parts of Romania?

I don't know what the latest scoop is on Romania. I got my information about the children being 4 mos old on this website:
http://www.angels-haven.com/programs.htm

[FamilyBound]

We are in the process of waiting for a referral from the Republic of Georgia. We adopted our son from Russia in 12/01 (when it was still one trip) and the ONLY reason we are not going back is because it is now 2 trips. Georgia was the perfect alternative for us because my son's birthmother is Georgian so he is actually half-Georgian.

It appeals to us because the children are in foster care, and the average in country time is only one week to ten days (instead of Kazakhstan which can be up to 30 days)

[amland01]

Which agency did you go with? Are you happy with them?

[FamilyBound]

We went with EAC (European Adoption Consultants) for our Russian adoption and they were fantastic (they do Kazahkstan also). However, because EAC doesn't work with the Republic of Georgia, we decided to go with AAI (Adoption Aid International) out of Walnut Creek, CA.

I would highly recommend EAC to anyone thinking of Russia or Kazakhstan (with caveats). As for AAI, so far they have done everything they said they would and have been VERY quick to respond to our inquiries!